Episode 796 (5th August 1968)
Plot Val is annoyed that Ken has got to be in the play and thinks she is being neglected. She is mollified when Ken remembers that tomorrow is their wedding anniversary - something that she herself had forgotten. Ray asks Len if they can put their fall-out behind them. Minnie forestalls Ray asking her for lodgings by saying that she no longer offers such arrangements. Len is amused enough to allow him to move into No.9 with him. Hilda tells Dickie that she was only passing on other people's gossip with what she said. PC Conway is given a cup of tea for a break in the Rovers, having been on the beat since 5.00am looking for an escaped rapist convict in the area. Ena admits to Minnie that she has a plan to get rid of Effie. Interested in Ken's play, Hilda thinks of going into amateur dramatics. She is amused when Stan admits he played a woman's part in an army play in the war. Ena wonders how Effie got an OAP maisonette when she seems quite well off and asks Elsie to make enquiries through Len. Emily plans a holiday in Scandinavia with her sister. Elsie makes Ena ask Effie direct how she got the flat. An upset Effie tells her all she's wanted are some friends, being lonely since her husband died, but all she's gained is enemies. She tells Ena she's won; she'll move on. Ena tells her not to be so daft. Ken rings Val to say that he'll be late as he's been told to run the students home after rehearsals. Audrey has her last day at school. She and Dickie tell Ena they got married after too much opposition from their parents. Ena wishes them every happiness. Ken wants to end rehearsals for the night but the enthusiastic students make him continue. Ena invites Effie into the snug when she comes into the Rovers and gives her advice on the local butchers to frequent. Annie is annoyed but Elsie tells her to drop it. Val puts the milk bottles out for the night and finds a man on the doorstep who starts to force his way into No.14. Cast Regular cast *Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens *Miss Nugent - Eileen Derbyshire *Ray Langton - Neville Buswell *Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson *Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant *Ena Sharples - Violet Carson *Annie Walker - Doris Speed *Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix *Dickie Fleming - Nigel Humphreys *Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander *Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid *Kenneth Barlow - William Roache *Effie Spicer - Anne Dyson *Audrey Fleming - Gillian McCann Guest cast *Pamela Dickenson - Annette Robertson *Paula - Rosemary Blake *Mildred - Heather Spratt *Graham - Michael Stirrup *P.C. Conway - Colin Edwynn Places *Rovers Return Inn - Public/Snug *3 Coronation Street - Back room *11 Coronation Street - Back room and kitchen *14 Coronation Street - Living room, kitchen and hallway *Fairclough and Booth - Yard *Granston Technical College - Main hall Notes *Sean Caffrey is not seen in this episode as Frank Riley. An unnamed extra plays the part with only his leg being seen, pushing his way into the open doorway of No.14 as Valerie Barlow puts the milk bottles out. *''TV Times'' synopsis: In which the third seat in the Snug is occupied *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 6,000,000 homes (1st place). This was the first episode whose ratings were collected under the auspices of JICTAR, thus providing one agreed set of figures for the ITV network. Notable dialogue Elsie Tanner: "Two sentences that are never said round 'ere: one's, 'I'm wrong' and the other is, 'I'm sorry'." Category:1968 episodes